U.S. patent number 4,910,765 [Application Number 07/240,475] was granted by the patent office on 1990-03-20 for communication terminal apparatus having a relaying function.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Ricoh Company, Ltd.. Invention is credited to Tomomi Gojyo, Kenji Matsuse.
United States Patent |
4,910,765 |
Matsuse , et al. |
March 20, 1990 |
Communication terminal apparatus having a relaying function
Abstract
A communication terminal apparatus having a relay function for
relaying transmission information from a source station to a
destination station. The transmission information includes not only
document information, but also relay information, such as the
address of the destination station and the apparatus type of the
destination station. Thus, the communication terminal apparatus,
upon receipt of the transmission information, can automatically
transmits the transmission information to the desired destination
station. Preferably, the communication terminal apparatus includes
a conversion function for converting the format of the transmission
information to another format, thereby allowing to transmit the
transmission information between the source and destination
stations different in apparatus type via the present communication
terminal apparatus.
Inventors: |
Matsuse; Kenji (Yokohama,
JP), Gojyo; Tomomi (Hadano, JP) |
Assignee: |
Ricoh Company, Ltd. (Tokyo,
JP)
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Family
ID: |
26440703 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/240,475 |
Filed: |
September 6, 1988 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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46179 |
Apr 30, 1987 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Apr 30, 1986 [JP] |
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61-99582 |
Sep 5, 1986 [JP] |
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61-208028 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
379/100.09;
379/100.13; 455/7; 700/8 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N
1/00281 (20130101); H04N 1/32037 (20130101); H04N
1/32048 (20130101); H04N 1/324 (20130101); H04N
1/32411 (20130101); H04N 1/33323 (20130101); H04N
1/33369 (20130101); H04N 1/33376 (20130101); H04N
1/33392 (20130101); H04N 2201/0067 (20130101); H04N
2201/0068 (20130101); H04N 2201/33378 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H04N
1/00 (20060101); H04N 1/333 (20060101); H04N
1/32 (20060101); H04N 001/46 () |
Field of
Search: |
;455/33,34,11,12,14,3,6,7 ;370/92,85,86,88,97 ;340/825.5,825.05
;379/100 ;364/137,188,900 ;358/78 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Eisenzopf; Reinhard J.
Assistant Examiner: Kuntz; Curtis A.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt
Parent Case Text
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 046,179,
filed on Apr. 30, 1987, now abandoned.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A document processing terminal apparatus including a display and
inputting means wherein said apparatus is capable of transmitting
document information through a transmission line to a remote place,
comprising:
means in said apparatus, for storing a destination file
representative of each of a plurality of communication terminal
apparatuses, said destination file including address information
and terminal type information wherein said terminal type
information includes facsimile, teletex and private teletex;
transmission condition setting means for setting a transmission
mode of said apparatus, said transmission mode including a relay
mode;
designating means for designating a relay communication terminal
apparatus for relaying document information and also a destination
communication terminal apparatus to which said document information
is to be finally transmitted through said relay communication
terminal apparatus;
relay control file forming means for forming a relay control file
from the address information and terminal type information of said
destination based on the designation of said destination
communication terminal apparatus by said designating means and said
destination file; and
transmitting means for transmitting document information;
whereby, when said relay mode is set by said transmission condition
setting means, said transmitting means transmits said relay control
file to a terminal apparatus acting as a relay communication
terminal apparatus, together with said document information.
2. A document processing terminal apparatus including a display and
inputting means wherein said apparatus is capable of transmitting
document information through a transmission line to a remote place,
comprising:
means in said apparatus for storing a destination file of each of a
plurality of communication terminal apparatuses, said destination
file including address information and charge information regarding
charge between any two of said plurality of communication terminal
apparatuses;
transmission condition setting means for setting a transmission
mode of said apparatus, said transmission mode including a relay
mode;
designating means for designating a destination communication
terminal apparatus to which said document information is to be
transmitted;
relay control file forming means for forming a relay control file
which determines if one or more of said plurality of communication
terminal apparatus should act as relay stations and an order of
transmitting said document information through said one or more
relay stations in order to minimize the charge for transmitting
said document information to said destination communication
terminal apparatus based on the designation of said destination
communication terminal apparatus by said designating means and said
destination file; and
transmitting means for transmitting document information;
whereby, when said relay mode is set by said transmission condition
setting means, said transmitting means transmits said document
information to a destination communication control apparatus
designated by said designating means in accordance with said relay
control file.
3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said charge information is
distance information between any two of said plurality of
communication control apparatuses, whereby said relay control file
is formed such that the distance to said destination communication
terminal apparatus is minimized.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a communication terminal
apparatus, and, in particular, to a communication terminal
apparatus having a relaying function suitable for use as a document
processing communication terminal apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, communication terminal apparatuses for use in data
communication include document forming or processing communication
terminal apparatuses, such as communication word processors and
teletexes, terminal apparatuses, such as personal computers or the
like provided with a communication function, and facsimile
machines. In the case of transmitting and receiving information
through the public telephone network using such communication
terminal apparatuses, if the distance between the transmitting and
receiving communication terminals is long, the fee for using the
network becomes high. In particular, in the case of transmitting
information to a large number of destinations, the transmitting
time becomes excessive so that the fee for using the network
becomes also excessive, and, thus, the communication efficiency
becomes lowered.
Among the communication terminal apparatuses, there are those which
are provided with a broadcasting function, thereby allowing to
transmit the same information to a plurality of destinations at the
same time. When broadcasting is designated, if such a communication
terminal apparatus having a broadcasting function has a plurality
of transmission lines, the same information is transmitted to a
plurality of destinations at the same time; whereas, if there is
only one transmission line, the same information is transmitted to
a plurality of destinations one after another in sequence. However,
such a prior art broadcasting technique is not high in
communication efficiency. In particular, when the communication
terminal apparatuses are located far apart from one another, the
fee for using the network connecting these communication terminal
apparatuses becomes high. And, particularly, if the same
information is to be transmitted to a plurality of destinations
under the circumstances, it takes much more time so that the fee
for using the network becomes excessive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, there
is provided a communication terminal apparatus having a relaying
function for relaying information received from a source terminal
apparatus to a destination terminal apparatus. In the preferred
embodiment, such a communication terminal apparatus also includes
means for adapting the information to be relayed so as to be
receivable by the destination terminal apparatus.
In accordance with the second aspect of the present invention,
there is provided a communication terminal apparatus having a
broadcasting function for transmitting the same information to a
plurality of destination terminal apparatuses and storing
information regarding relay terminal apparatuses in the network.
Thus, when the communication terminal apparatus is given an
instruction to carry out a broadcasting operation, the information
is transmitted to selected one or more of relay terminal
apparatuses so that the information is transmitted to a plurality
of destination terminal apparatuses via selected one or more of the
relay terminal apparatuses. In this manner, when a broadcasting
operation is to be carried out to transmit the same information to
a plurality of destination terminal apparatuses, one or more of
relay terminal apparatuses in the network is selected, and, then,
the information is transmitted to the destination terminal
apparatuses via the thus selected relay terminal apparatuses. For
example, if the communication terminal apparatus is going to
transmit the same information to a plurality of destination
terminal apparatuses which are located far away from the source
communication terminal apparatus but which are located rather close
to a relay terminal apparatus in the network, then the source
communication terminal apparatus first transmits the information to
this relay terminal apparatus which in turn relays the thus
received information to the plurality of destination terminal
apparatuses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS. 1a
and 1b;
FIGS. 1a and 1b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 1, show a
communication terminal apparatus having a relaying function
constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration showing the overall outlook of a
document processing (forming) communication terminal apparatus
constructed in accordance with one embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one example of the internal
control system of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a system
control unit (SCU) shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a CRT
control unit (CRTCU) shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a
communication control unit (CCU) shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS. 7a
and 7b;
FIGS. 7a and 7b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 7, define a
block diagram showing the overall structure of a data compression
unit (DCR) shown in FIG. 3;
FIGS. 8 through 10 are flow charts showing one example of the
document transmission processing and document transmission
preparation processing implemented by the system control unit and
the communication control unit;
FIG. 11 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
11a and 11b;
FIGS. 11a and 11b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 11, define
a flow chart showing one example of transmission processing;
FIG. 12 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
12a and 12b;
FIGS. 12a and 12b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 12, define
a flow chart showing one example of transmission processing;
FIGS. 13 and 14 are flow charts showing one example of document
reception processing;
FIG. 15 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
15a and 15b;
FIGS. 15a and 15b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 15, define
an illustration showing one example of communication protocol
sequence;
FIG. 16 is a schematic illustration which is useful for explaining
the principle of one aspect of the present invention for
transmitting information to one or more of destination terminal
apparatuses via a relay terminal apparatus;
FIG. 17 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
17a and 17b;
FIGS. 17a and 17b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 17, define
a block diagram showing a communication terminal apparatus
constructed in accordance with another embodiment of the present
invention;
FIG. 18 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
18a and 18b;
FIGS. 18a and 18b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 18, define
a flow chart showing the document transmission processing operation
to be implemented by the structure shown in FIGS. 17a and 17b;
FIG. 19 is a schematic illustration showing how to combine FIGS.
19a and 19b;
FIGS. 19a and 19b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 19, define
a flow chart showing relay control list forming processing to be
implemented by the structure shown in FIGS. 17a and 17b;
FIGS. 20 through 22 are schematic illustrations which are useful
for understanding the sequence of steps in the flow chart of FIGS.
19a and 19b;
FIG. 23 is a flow chart showing document reception processing to be
implemented by the structure shown in FIGS. 17a and 17b; and
FIGS. 24 and 27 are schematic illustrations which are useful for
understanding the advantages of the second aspect of the present
invention over the prior art.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring first to FIG. 2, there is shown schematically a document
processing (forming) communication terminal apparatus constructed
in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As
shown, the document processing communication terminal apparatus
includes a keyboard 1 provided with a plurality of keys for
inputting character information, such as katakana (Japanese),
hiragana (Japanese), kanji (Chinese characters), English alphabets
and numerals, and control information necessary for document
formation, document transmission and system control. The apparatus
also includes a display device 2 for displaying document (text)
information and those information which is necessary for various
operations, such as document formation (composition) and editing
operation and document transmission operation. Also provided in the
apparatus is a wire-dot serial printer 3 for recording such
information as formed document information, received document
information and transmitting and receiving records on a sheet of
recording paper. The apparatus further includes a main module 4,
which houses therein various units, such as a floppy disk drive, a
thin hard disk drive, a system control unit and a communication
control unit, a mouse (cursor mover) 5 and a telephone receiver
6.
It is to be noted that the specification regarding teletex and
facsimile communications by this document forming communication
terminal apparatus is based on CCITT recommendations on teletex and
facsimile communications and also on a recommended communication
system of a Japanese teletex machine prepared by the Japanese
Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, though the present
invention should not be limited only to this.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of an
internal control system provided in the main module 4. As shown,
the internal control system includes a hard disk drive (HDD) 7,
which, for example, has a capacity of 20 megabytes and which stores
an operating system (OS) having a resident process function capable
of carrying out multi-task control, a kana-kanji conversion
program, a kana-kanji conversion dictionary, created document
information, a document transmission and reception program, and the
like. Also provided is a floppy disk drive (FDD) 8 which, for
example, may include a well-known 5 inch double density floppy disk
drive and which stores document information and the like.
A system control unit (SCU) 9 is in charge of the overall control
of this communication terminal apparatus, and it handles such
operations as word processing operation, such as creation and
editing of a document, data compression processing of a
transmission document, a procedure relating to a document
transmission and reception in relation to a communication control
unit 11, local transmission and reception processing, such as
printing of a received document, and relay transmission control
processing. A CRT control unit (CRTCU) 10 is in charge of display
control of the display device 2 and print control of the printer 3.
The communication control unit (CCU) 11 takes care of a
communication control, such as a document transmission control for
transmitting a document to a receiving terminal apparatus, such as
a teletex terminal apparatus, a facsimile machine (FAX), or a
document processing communication terminal apparatus of the same
kind, and a document reception control for receiving a document
from a transmitting terminal apparatus. A data compression unit
(DCR) 12 provides a function of converting an image data into a
compression code in accordance with the protocol of facsimile
communication. Although not shown specifically, it is to be noted
that the main module 4 further contains therein a mouse interface
for the mouse 5 and a scanner interface for an image scanner (not
shown).
FIG. 4 shows in block form the overall structure of the system
control unit 9 provided in the control system shown in FIG. 3. This
system control unit 9 includes a central processing unit or simply
CPU 21 comprised of a 16-bit microprocessor or the like and in
charge of the control of the overall system. A bus buffer 22 is
interposed between the CPU 21 and a common bus. In addition, a
timing generator 23 and a refresh controller 24 are also provided
as connected to the common bus. The system control unit 9 also
includes a random access memory or simply RAM 25 having the
capacity of, for example, 512 KB and including a system region for
storing resident programs, such as an OS and a program relating to
reception of a document, and other regions, RAM controllers 26 and
27 for controlling the RAM 25, and boot ROM 28 which stores a boot
program for controlling the loading of a program into the RAM 25.
The system control unit 9 further includes a keyboard interface
(I/F) 30 for handling information transfer with the keyboard 1, a
hard disk interface (HDD I/F) 31 for controlling the HDD 7, a
buffer 32 interposed between the HDD I/F 31 and the common bus, and
floppy disk controller (FDC) 33 for controlling the FDD 8. In
addition, the system control unit 9 is also provided with serial
ports (SIO) 34 and 35.
FIG. 5 shows in block form one example of the CRT control unit
(CRTCU) 10. As shown, the CRTCU 10 includes a slave CPU 41
comprised, for example, of a 16-bit microprocessor and in charge of
the overall control, a bus interface 42 interposed between a slave
CPU bus and the common bus, a ROM 43 having the capacity of, for
example, 16 KB for use in IPL, and a RAM 44 having a common memory
portion shared by the system control unit 9 and a program memory
portion for storing a predetermined program. The common memory
defined by this RAM 44 includes an index buffer, a management
region, a record region, a data buffer for FAX transmission, a page
buffer for a printer, and a data buffer for image editing. The
CRTCU 10 includes a bus interface 45 interposed between the slave
CPU bus and the micro bus, a ROM 46 for micrprogramming, and a RAM
47 as a program control memory. In addition, the CRTCU 10 includes
a character graphic (CG) memory 48 comprised of a kanji pattern
ROM, a layout data ROM, a system ROM, and a non-standard letter
pattern RAM, and a CRT controller 49. Furthermore, the CRTCU 10
includes an image memory 51 for developing the display data to be
supplied to the display device (CRT) 2, a timing generating circuit
52 for controlling the timing of display, and a printer interface
53 for handling data transfer with the printer 3.
FIG. 6 shows in block form an example of the communication control
unit (CCU) 11 provided in the control system shown in FIG. 3. As
shown, the communication control unit 11 includes a CPU 61
comprised, for example, of a 16-bit microprocessor and in charge of
the overall control, a parallel interface 62 for interfacing with
the common bus, a ROM 63 for storing teletex communication control
and facsimile communication control programs, a RAM 64 mainly for
use as a working memory, and a RAM 65 for use as a communication
memory for storing received document information and transmitting
document information so as to carry out communication between
memories. In addition, the communication control unit 11 includes a
multi-protocol serial control (MPSC) 66, a MODEM 67, a line
interface 68, a network control unit (AA-NCU) 69, a terminal 70, a
network protection device (PD), a MODEM interface 72 for the MODEM
67 and the network control unit 69, and an NCU interface 73 so as
to carry out communication with another communication terminal
apparatus through the public telephone network. The communication
control unit 11 further includes a calendar 74 for use in
management of the date and time of transmission and reception, a
switch (LP/SW) for setting the internal condition, a display
interface 76 for displaying the presence or absence of a received
document, and a light-emitting diode or simply LED 77. It is to be
noted that, although not shown specifically, the communication
control unit 11 also includes a X.21 interface and a connector so
as to allow to use a packet switching network or a circuit
switching network as well as the public telephone network.
FIGS. 7a and 7b, when combined as illustrated in FIG. 7, show in
block form the detailed structure of one example of the data
compression unit (DCR) 12. As shown, the DCR 12 controls the
overall operation by a microcomputer system comprised of a CPU 81,
a ROM 82 and a local RAM 83. Provided is a common memory 84 which
is shared by the DCR 12 and the system control unit 9 (host) and
which is comprised of a command response area for storing a command
response, an image data area for storing an image data (image
information data) to be compressed, and a compression code area for
storing a compressed image data (image information). Also provided
is a facsimile control processor (FCP) 85 which serves to compress
the image data stored in the image data area of the common memory
84 and to store the compression code (image information) after
compression into the compression code area of the common memory 84.
Also provided is an inversion data gate 86 which inverts the bit
arrangement of the data to be written into the common memory 84 or
the data read out of the common memory 84 and has the data passed
therethrough. There is also provided a non-inversion data gate 87
which causes the data to be written into the common memory 84 or
the data read out of the common memory 84 to be passed therethrough
with the bit arrangement unchanged.
The DCR shown in FIGS. 7a and 7b includes an address decoder 88
which decodes an address data from the common bus and outputs such
signals as a gate request AREQ for selecting the inversion data
gate 86, a gate request BREQ for selecting the non-inversion data
gate 87, a host request HOSTREQ for requesting the use of the
common memory 84 by the host side, a register selector REGSL, and a
card select CSL. Also provided is a selector 89 which, in response
to the DCR request DCRRQ requesting to use the common memory 84
supplied from the FCP 85 and the host request HOST from the address
decoder 88, switches the data input/output line of the common
memory 84 to the FCP 85, inversion data gate 86, or non-inversion
data gate 87 selectively and which outputs an output enable OE and
a write enable WE to the common memory 84 and also a bus flag
BUSFLAG. Also provided is an address decoder 90 which outputs a
common memory select C-RAMSL and a FCP select FCPSL to the FCP 85
in response to an address data from the CPU 81 and which also
outputs a ROM select ROMSL to the ROM 82 and also a local RAM
select RRAMSL to the local RAM 81. It is to be noted that the DCR
12 is also provided with a command status register 91 and an
interrupt flag 92.
FIGS. 1a and 1b, when combined as illustrated as shown in FIG. 1,
illustrate in functional block form that portion of the present
communication terminal apparatus which relates to a relay and
broadcast control operation. As shown, the relay and broadcast
control system of the present communication terminal apparatus
includes a local transmission and reception control unit 101 which
serves to transmit information transmitted from each unit of the
system side to the communication control unit 11 and also to
receive information transmitted from the communication control unit
11. The relay and broadcast control system further includes a
transmission document designating unit 102 which designates the
document name of a document to be transmitted, a relay destination
designating unit 103 which designates the address of a relay
communication terminal apparatus, and a final destination
designating unit 104 which designates the address of a final
destination communication terminal apparatus to which the document
is to be finally transmitted via the relay communication terminal
apparatus.
Also provided is a transmission information forming unit 105 which
receives the title of a document to be transmitted from the
transmission document designating unit 102 and also the relay
address from the relay address designating unit 103, thereby
forming transmission information which, in turn, is transmitted to
the communication control unit 11 via the local transmission and
reception control unit 101. Also provided in the relay and
broadcast control system is a relay control file forming unit 106
which receives a final destination (address) from the final
destination designating unit 104 and examines the destination
(address) file registering the type of terminal apparatus for each
destination (address) stored in the destination file storing unit
107 to read out the information regarding the type of the terminal
apparatus of the final destination, whereby a relay control file
comprised of the final destination received and the information
regarding the type of the terminal apparatus read out is formed and
this relay control file is transmitted to the communication control
unit 11 via the local transmission and control unit 101.
A relay control file storing unit 108 stores a relay control file
which has been supplied from the communication control unit 11 via
the local transmission and reception control unit 101, i.e., which
has been transmitted from a source communication terminal
apparatus; on the other hand, a received record storing unit 109
stores a received record which has been supplied from the
communication control unit 11 via the local transmission and
reception control unit 101. A received record analyzing unit 110
reads out the received record stored in the received record storing
unit 109 to determine the presence or absence of relay transmission
designation information, and, if such information has been found to
be present, then the unit 110 apprise of this fact to a relay
transmission information forming unit 111. Upon having been
apprised of the presence of relay broadcast designation from the
received record analyzing unit 110, the relay transmission
information forming unit 111 reads out the received relay control
file stored in the relay control file storing unit 108 to form
relay transmission information comprised of a final destination
address and the information regarding the type of the terminal
apparatus of the final destination, and this relay transmission
information is supplied to the communication control unit 11 via
the local transmission and reception control unit 101.
A transmission document processing unit 112 reads out a
transmission document corresponding to a transmission document name
supplied from the transmission information forming unit 105 from
the document file storing unit 113 and then converts the
transmission doucment into transmission document information
suitable for the type of the terminal apparatus of the final
destination to which the transmission document is to be
transmitted, thereby supplying this transmission document
information to the communication control unit 11 via the local
transmission and reception control unit 101. In addition, the
transmission document processing unit 112 reads out a relay
transmission document, which has been received so as to be relayed
to a final destination terminal apparatus, from the document file
storing unit 113 corresponding to a relay transmission document
name supplied from the relay transmission information forming unit
111, and, then, converts this relay transmission document
information in document information suitable for the type of a
destination terminal apparatus to which the document information is
to be transmitted according to the data stored in the relay
transmission information forming unit 111, whereby this relay
transmission document information is supplied to the communication
control unit 11 via the local transmission and reception control
unit 101.
Now, the operation of the structure shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b will
be described in detail below.
In the first place, the transmission mode of the present document
processing (forming) communication terminal apparatus includes (1)
a teletex mode for transmission to a teletex terminal apparatus and
(2) a facsimile mode (also referred to as "mode F") for
transmission to a facsimile terminal apparatus. The teletex mode is
further divided into two modes, one of which is a teletex mode for
transmission to a terminal apparatus having a standard teletex
communication function based on the CCITT recommendations or the
like (referred to as "mode T") and the other of which is a private
mode for transmission to a communication terminal apparatus having
a private communication function as well as a standard teletex
communication function similar to the transmitting terminal
apparatus (referred to as "mode P"). In the present document
processing communication terminal apparatus, there is previously
registered a destination (address) list containing the name of a
destination communication terminal apparatus, the address (such as
a telephone number), and the type of the destination communication
terminal apparatus, i.e., which of the above-described transmission
modes (mode F/T/P) is possessed by the destination communication
terminal apparatus, thereby identifying the destination
communication terminal apparatus to be serving as a facsimile
terminal apparatus, a teletex terminal apparatus, or a private
teletex terminal apparatus.
Now, the document transmission processing operation implemented by
the system control unit 9 of the present document processing
communication terminal apparatus will be described in detail also
with reference to FIG. 8. When document transmission among a
teletex communication menu in a task selection step [not shown] has
been selected, a menu for setting the transmission condition for
document transmission is displayed on the screen, whereby the
transmission condition setting processing is carried out for
transmission mode (ordinary transmission, urgent transmission,
relay transmission, etc.), time of transmission, and contents of
transmission (e.g., Japanese) by key operation. Upon completion of
this transmission condition setting processing, the document names
registered in the document file is read out and a menu of document
name list is displayed on the screen, whereby a particular document
name for transmission is designated by key operation to implement a
document designation step. After this document designation step, it
is checked whether or not relay transmission is designated at a
transmission condition setting step.
If relay transmission is designated, the address list registered in
the destination or address file is read out and a menu for
designation of relay destination is displayed. Then, the name of
relay destination, i.e., the name of a destination communication
terminal apparatus to which information is to be relayed, is
designated by key operation at a relay destination designation
step. Then, while keeping the address list displayed, a menu for
designation of a final destination is displayed and a final
destination, to which the relayed information is to be transmitted,
is selected by key operation to carry out a final destination
designation step. Thereafter, there is formed a relay control file
comprised of the address information of the final destination and
the type (or mode) information of the communication terminal
apparatus of the final destination.
On the other hand, if no relay transmission has been designated, a
menu for destination designation is read out of the address
(destination) list registered in the address file and displayed,
and, then, a particular name of destination (in this case, a final
destination) to which information is to be transmitted is
designated by key operation to carry out a destination designation
step.
Thereafter, although not shown, for example, the name of
destination, the name of document, etc. are displayed for
confirmation. And, if the steps thus far implemented are to be
cancelled, it proceeds to a cancel step; on the other hand, if the
steps thus far implemented have been confirmed, then it proceeds to
a SCU transmission preparation processing operation.
Next, the transmission preparation processing operation will be
described in detail with particular reference to FIG. 9 (SCU side)
and FIG. 10 (CCU side). In this transmission preparation processing
operation, the system control unit (SCU) 9 supplies transmission
information, such as the address (telephone number) of a designated
destination, the name of a document to be transmitted, time of
transmission, and relay transmission designation information if
relay transmission has been designated, to the communication
control unit (CCU) 11. On the other hand, in accordance with a
predetermined command from the SCU 9, the CCU 11 initiates the
implementation of the sequence shown in FIG. 10, thereby receiving
the transmission information supplied from the SCU 9 and have it
stored in the internal memory. If the CCU is not in a condition to
receive information from the SCU because, for example, of the CCU
11 being currently in the middle of document transmission with
another communication terminal apparatus, the operation, such as
transmission and reception of the transmission information with the
SCU 9, is temporarily halted to be set in a stand-by status until
the current communication is completed.
Thereafter, the SCU 9 requests a transmission file No. to the CCU
11 which thus supplies a predetermined transmission file No. in
response to this request. This transmission file No. is a file No.
for internal processing. Here, use is made of "TDOC-XXX" which
indicates the teletex mode. Upon receipt of the transmission file
No. from the CCU 11, the SCU 9 reads the apparatus type information
of the designated destination registered in the address list to
determine whether or not it is a facsimile mode (mode F). Under the
condition, if the transmission mode is mode F, then the SCU 9
changes the transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 from
"TDOC-XXX" indicating teletex mode to "FDOC-XXX" indicating
facsimile mode and supplies it to the CCU 11. Then, the
transmission document of the document name designated for
transmission is read out of the FDD 8, and, after adding the
changed file No. "FDOC-XXX" to the document, it is registered in
the transmission file defined by the HDD 7.
On the other hand, if the transmission mode is not mode F, then it
is checked whether or not it is a private mode (mode P). If the
transmission mode is mode P, then the SCU 9 changes the
transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 from "TDOC-XXX"
indicating the teletex mode to "PDOC-XXX" indicating the private
mode and supplies the changed file No. to the CCU 11. Then, the
transmission document of the document name designated for
transmission is read out of the FDD 8, and, after adding the
changed file No. of "PDOC-XXX" to the document, it is registered in
the transmission file defined by the HDD 7.
In this case, if the relay transmission designation has been added
to the transmission document, the relay control file formed and
retained by the document transmission processing operation as
described before with reference to FIG. 9 is added to a
predetermined page, e.g., page 1, of the transmission document of
the transmission document name, and, then, this transmission
document with added information is stored as a transmission
document in the transmission file.
On the other hand, if the transmission mode is not mode P and mode
T of teletex mode, then the transmission document of the designated
document name is read out of the FDD 8 and the file No. "TDOC-XXX"
of teletex mode received from the CCU 11 is added to the document
thus read out and registered in the transmission file. If the CCU
11 receives the transmission file No. from the SCU 9, it changes
the transmission file No. supplied to the SCU 9 to the transmission
file No. received from the SCU 9 and has it registered.
Next, the transmission processing operation to be carried out by
the system control unit 9 and the communication control unit 11
will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 11a-11b and
12a-12b.
The communication control unit (CCU) 11 sets the transmission
status ON, i.e., requesting transmission, when the time has come if
the transmission time has been designated, or immediately if no
specific transmission time has been designated. On the other hand,
the system control unit (SCU) 9 checks to see whether the
transmission status has become ON by polling the CUU 11 at a
predetermined time interval, and when the transmission status has
become ON, i.e., upon request for transmission, the SCU 9 requests
the CCU 11 the transmission file No. for transmission. On the other
hand, upon receipt of a request of a transmission file No., the CCU
11 supplies a transmission file No. to the SCU 9 and waits for a
further command from the SCU 9. Under the condition, the SCU 9
determines the transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 to be
either one of "FDOC-XXX", "PDOC-XXX", and "TDOC-XXX", thereby
determining the transmission mode to be either one of mode F
(facsimile mode), mode P (private mode), and mode T (teletex
mode).
If the transmission file No. has been found to be a transmission
file No. of mode F, then a mode F transmission document command is
supplied to the CCU 11; in the case of a transmission file No. of
mode P, a mode P transmission document command is supplied to the
CCU 11; and in the case of a transmission file No. of mode T, a
mode T transmission document command is supplied to the CCU 11.
Thus, the CCU 11 determines the command received from the SCU 9 to
be a transmission document command of either one of mode F, mode P
or mode T, and depending on the result of this determination, the
CCU 11 carries out a network connecting processing operation with a
transmitting (receiving) terminal apparatus in accordance with the
facsimile communication procedure, private communication procedure
added to the teletex communication regulations, or teletex
communication procedure. Then, when communication is made possible,
for example, by establishing a connection with another terminal
apparatus through the network, the transmission document supply and
reception processing operation is carried out between the SCU 9 and
the CCU 11 so that the transmission document information is
supplied from the SCU 9 to the CCU 11 in accordance with the
selected transmission mode (mode F, P or T).
In the case of mode F, the SCU 9 changes the transmission document
information from the character code into image data, for example,
by using the bit map memory of the CRTCU 10, and, then, the image
data is further converted into compression code according to the
facsimile communication regulations. Thus converted compression
code is then supplied to the CCU 11. In the case of mode P, the SCU
9 supplies the transmission document information to the CCU 11
without change; whereas, in the case of mode T, the transmission
document information is converted into data in compliance with a
teletex terminal apparatus, and, then, the thus converted data is
supplied to the CCU 11. Thereafter, the CCU 11 transmits the
transmission document information received from the SCU 9 to a
destination terminal apparatus in accordance with the transmission
mode (mode F, P or T).
Upon completion of supply of the transmission document to the CCU
11 or in the case of the condition of transmission impossible, the
SCU 9 immediately carries out a transmission termination processing
operation, and, then, the CCU 11 carries out the transmission
termination processing operation upon completion of transmission of
the transmission document to the destination terminal apparatus or
in the case of being incapable to establish a connection through
network, thereby completing a series of processing operations.
Now, transmission of relay communication designation information
and a relay control file will be described in detail below.
As well known in the art, the communication protocol in teletex has
a seven-layered structure, including a physical layer (layer 1) for
physical conditions, such as MODEM and pin arrangement, a link
layer (layer 2) for a communication control procedure, a network
layer (layer 3) for a routine control within network, a transport
layer (layer 4) for absorbing the differences in network, a session
control layer (layer 5) and a document control layer (layer 5) as a
session layer for transmission and reception control of data or the
like, presentation layer (layer 6) for encoding of data,
formatting, or the like. In the present communication terminal
apparatus, the communication control unit 11 takes care of layers 1
through 5 and a part of layer 6, and the system control unit 9
takes care of the rest of layer 6. And, various commands and
responses necessary to implement the session and document controls
are defined in the session control and document control layers
within the session layer.
In the present embodiment, relay transmission designation
information is added in session start (CSS) and session start
confirmation (RSSP) which is a command and response used in the
session control layer, to which a privately used parameter can be
added. Alternatively, used may also be made of a command and
response, such as document function list (CDCL) and document
function list confirmation (RDCLP) which is used in the document
control layer and which allows to use a privately used parameter.
In addition, as described before, the relay control file is
transmitted as a part of the document. In this case, the relay
control file is always stored on a predetermined page (here, page
1) of the document. Thus, in the transmission document supply and
reception processing operation in mode P in FIGS. 11a-11b and
12a-12b, the relay control file is supplied from the system control
unit 9 to the communication control unit 11 as a transmission
document and it is transmitted to the destination communication
terminal apparatus.
Next, the processing operation when the present communication
terminal apparatus receives a document added with relay
transmission designation from a transmitting communication terminal
apparatus having a comparable function as that of the present
communication terminal apparatus will be described in detail below
with reference to FIG. 13 (CCU side), FIG. 14 (SCU side) and FIG.
15, which shows an example of a communication protocol
sequence.
In the first place, upon receipt of a call request from another
communication terminal apparatus, the communication control unit 1
carries out a call reception processing operation to establish a
connection through the network as shown in FIG. 13. This call
reception processing operation is an operation up to the
establishment of connection of the transport level shown in FIGS.
15a-15b. That is, as shown in FIGS. 15a-15b, in the like level, the
calling station requests setting of asynchronous equilibrium mode
(SABM P), and, in response thereto, the called station issues a
non-number confirmation response (UA F), thereby establishing a
connection of link level. Incidentally, "P" and "F" in such request
and response signify a poll bit (P bit) and a final bit (F bit),
and the method of their use is explained in the recommendations.
Then, at the network level, the calling station places a call
request (CR), and, in response thereto, the called station returns
a call acknowledgement response (CA), thereby establishing a
connection of network level. Then, at the transport level, the
calling station places a connection request (TCR), and, in response
thereto, the called station checks the parameter (address, length
of longest data, etc.) of the transport connection request and
issues a connection response (TCA) since it can be accepted,
thereby establishing a connection of transport level. In this
manner, after the communication control unit 11 has carried out the
call reception processing operation up to establishment of a
connection of transport level, it proceeds to the session control
level to establish the session level which includes detection
processing of relay transmission designation information as a part
thereof.
That is, as shown in FIGS. 15a-15b, upon having proceeded to the
session control of session level, if the calling station designates
relay transmission to this terminal apparatus, then it issues a
session start request (CSS) which has relay transmission
designation information as a parameter, as described before. Thus,
in response to this session start request (CSS), the called station
examines the requested parameters (identification of calling
station, date and time information, relay transmission designation
information, etc.) and issues a session start response (RSSP) since
acceptable. In this manner, upon receipt of the parameters of relay
transmission designation information in the session control from
the transmitting terminal apparatus, the communication control unit
11 stores them therein. Thereafter, the communication control unit
11 proceeds to the document control layer of session layer to
receive the document being transmitted and have it stored in the
internal communication memory.
That is, as shown in FIG. 15, in the document control of session
level, the calling station issues a document start (CDS) and then
transfers the document (CDUI), whereby the calling station
transmits a document boundary (CDPB) upon completion of transfer of
a single page of document. Under the condition, the called station
examines whether or not it can take responsibility for the single
page thus transferred and then, since it can be responsible, it
accepts the single page of document and has it stored in the
internal communication memory. And, then, the called station
transmits a page boundary confirmation (RDPBP) to the calling
station. Incidentally, as described previously, if relay
transmission has been designated, this page 1 of document
constitutes information of a relay control file.
Since the calling station transfers two pages of document in this
example, the document is transferred once again from the calling
station, and upon completion of this second transfer, the calling
station transmits a document end (CDE). In response thereto, the
called station returns a document end confirmation (RDEP).
Thereafter, it proceeds to the session control of session level,
where the calling station designates a session end (CSE). In
response thereto, the called station transmits a session end
response (RSEP). And, then, at the network level, the calling
station issues a restore request (CQ), and, in response thereto,
the called station transmits a disconnection confirmation (CF).
Then, at the link level, the calling station issues a disconnection
request (DISCP), and, in response thereto, the called station
issues a non-number confirmation (UAF), thereby disconnecting the
connection at the link level. The transport connection is also
disconnected in synchronism therewith.
In this manner, when the communication control unit 11 has received
all of the document from the calling station (transmitting
communication terminal apparatus), it apprises of reception of
document to the system control unit 9 and supplies the received
document to the system control unit 9. Thereafter, a received
record is formed and this received record is supplied to the system
control unit 9. As described before, if relay transmission
designation has been detected during the detection processing
operation of relay transmission designation information, the
information regarding this fact is added to the received
record.
On the other hand, if a received document reception request is
issued from the communication control unit 11, the system control
unit 9 receives the received document supplied from the
communication control unit 11 and has it stored in the received
document file, as shown in FIG. 14, and it also receives received
record information supplied thereafter and has it stored in the
received record file. Then, the received record received from the
received record file is read out to examine whether or not relay
transmission designation information is contained, thereby
determining whether or not it is relay transmission of a received
document. If it is, in fact, relay transmission of a received
document, the relay control file stored on the first page of the
received document now stored in the received document file is read
out to form relay transmission information including final
destination address information and apparatus type information of
the destination apparatus.
Thereafter, it proceeds to the previously described SCU
transmission preparation processing operation. Similarly, upon
receipt of transmission status ON from the communication control
unit 11, it also proceeds to the previously described SCU
transmission processing operation. And, if necessary, data
conversion is carried out for the received document (excepting the
relay control file) in relation to the designated final
destination, and, then, the converted document is supplied to the
communication control unit 11 for transmission to the final
destination communication terminal apparatus. Then, upon completion
of relay transmission of the received document, it is checked
whether or not the received document has been relay transmitted to
all of the final destinations registered in the relay control file,
and if there is a remaining destination, then the above-described
processing operation is repeated, so that the received document
excepting the relay control file is relay transmitted to all of the
final destinations registered in the relay control file.
With the above-described processing operation, as shown, for
example, in FIG. 16, the present communication terminal apparatus
PS2 can serve as a relay terminal apparatus by receiving a
transmission document from a transmitting communication terminal
apparatus PS1 comparable in function as the present invention PS2
(i.e., having also a communication function with a telex) and
transmitting the same transmission document to a receiving
communication terminal apparatus PS3 also comparable in function as
the present apparatus PS2, to a facsimile apparatus FAX, to a telex
apparatus TEX and to a teletex apparatus TETX. In this case, relay
transmission designation information, relay control file
information and transmission document information are transmitted
from the transmitting communication terminal apparatus PS1 to the
present document processing communication terminal apparatus PS2
comparable in function as the transmitting apparatus PS1 and
serving as a relay station. Thus, the present communication
terminal apparatus PS2 transmits the received document to the
communication terminal apparatus PS3, to the facsimile apparatus
FAX, to the telex apparatus TEX and to the teletex apparatus TETX,
whereby the present apparatus PS2 serves as a relay station.
Accordingly, even if the source station of communication terminal
apparatus PS1 is located far apart from each of the destination
stations of communication terminal apparatus PS3, facsimile
apparatus FAX, telex apparatus TEX and teletex apparatus TETX, the
source station of communication terminal apparatus PS1 can first
transmit the transmission document to the relay station of
communication terminal apparatus PS2 which is located closer to the
destination stations, so that the overall communication time can be
reduced significantly and the same document can be transmitted to a
plurality of destination stations most efficiently, if they are
located far away from the source station.
As described above, the present document processing communication
terminal apparatus is provided with a function of transmitting
information received from a source station to one or more of
designated destination stations, thereby serving as a relay
station, so that the provision of the present communication
terminal apparatus in the network allows to obtain an enhanced
communication efficiency. In addition, by providing a function of
converting the format of received data in association with the type
of the apparatus at a designated destination station to the present
communication terminal apparatus, even if the source station cannot
directly transmit a document to the destination station, the
document can be transmitted via the present communication terminal
apparatus with data conversion. Thus, the present communication
terminal apparatus allows to carry out a communication between two
terminal apparatuses different in type connected in the same
network. It is to be noted, however, that the present communication
terminal apparatus does not always have to include all of the
transmission functions of teletex mode, private mode and facsimile
modes as in the case of the above-described embodiment. It may
include one or some of these modes or may include one or more of
some other modes, if necessary.
Now, the second aspect of the present invention will be described
in detail below. In accordance with this aspect of the present
invention, there is provided a communication terminal apparatus
having a broadcasting function for transmitting the same
information to a plurality of destination stations simultaneously
or in sequence and also a relaying function for relaying the
information received from a source station to a destination
station. In the communication terminal apparatus constructed in
accordance with this aspect of the present invention, when
broadcasting communication is designated, desired information is
transmitted to one or more of selected communication terminal
apparatuses having a relaying function based on the stored
information relating to relay communication terminal apparatuses.
That is, when communication is to be carried out in a broadest
mode, the present communication terminal apparatus examines the
stored information regarding communication terminal apparatuses
connected to the same network and having a relaying function and
selects one or more of the communication terminal apparatuses as
relay stations, so that the transmitting information is transmitted
to destination stations via these selected relay stations.
The communication terminal apparatus constructed in accordance with
this aspect of the present invention may have the structure
illustrated in FIGS. 2 through 7 and described above with respect
to the first aspect of the present invention, so that the
description will not be repeated here.
FIGS. 17a and 17b, when combined as shown in FIG. 17, show in
functional block form that portion of the present communication
terminal apparatus which relates to a relayed broadcast control
operation. As shown, there is provided a local transmission and
reception control unit 101 which supplies various information from
various parts of the system side to a transmission and reception
control unit 120 at the communication control side and also
receives information from the transmission and reception control
unit 120. A transmission document designating unit 102 designates
the name of a document to be transmitted. A destination designating
unit 116 designates the address or final destination to which the
transmitting document is to be transmitted via a relay station.
Also provided is a broadcast designating unit 117 which designates
broadcast communication. A destination file storing unit 107 stores
a destination file including such information as transmission mode,
address, type of apparatus of each of the terminal apparatuses
connected to the network. A relay terminal information storing unit
119 stores relay terminal information relating to those
communication terminal apparatuses having a relay function.
A relay control list forming unit 118 reads out information, such
as address, of the destination (communication terminal apparatus to
which a document is to be transmitted) designated by the
destination designating unit 116 from the destination file storing
unit 107 when the mode of broadcast communication has been
designated by the broadcast designating unit 117, and, then, forms
a relay control list including such information as decision to use
which of the relay communication terminal apparatuses for the
designated destination based on the relay terminal information
stored in the relay terminal information storing unit 119. The
relay control list thus formed by the relay control list forming
unit 118 is supplied to a transmission information forming unit 105
which also receives such information as the communication mode of
the destination communication terminal apparatus and of the relay
communication terminal apparatus from the destination file storing
unit 107, thereby forming transmission information comprised of the
transmission mode information of the destination communication
terminal apparatus and the relay information, such as the address
information and transmission information of the relay communication
terminal apparatus obtained from the received relay control list.
And, thus formed transmission information is then supplied to the
transmission and reception control unit 120 via the local
transmission and reception control unit 101.
A transmission document take-out unit 115 takes out a document to
be transmitted designated by the transmission document designating
unit 102 from a document file storing unit 113 which stores
document information and then supplies the thus taken-out document
to the transmission and reception control unit 120 via the local
transmission and reception control unit 101. Upon receipt of
transmission information and transmission document information
supplied from the local transmission and reception control unit
101, the transmission and reception control unit 120 causes these
information to be once stored in a communication memory 121 and
transmits the transmission document information and relay
information to be designated communication terminal apparatus. The
transmission and reception control unit 120 also receives document
information and relay information being transmitted from a source
station and has these information stored in the communication
memory 121 as received information. Moreover, the transmission and
reception control unit 120 transmits the received document
information stored in the communication memory 121 to a designated
destination station in accordance with the relay transmission
information supplied from a relay transmission information forming
unit 111 which will be described later in detail.
A relay information analyzing unit 122 analyzes the received
information stored in the communication memory 121, thereby taking
out the relay information from this received information and
supplying the relay information to the relay transmission
information forming unit 111. Upon receipt of the relay information
from the received information analyzing unit 122, the relay
transmission information forming unit 111 forms relay transmission
information comprised of address information and the like of a
relay station and supplies the thus formed relay transmission
information to the transmission and reception control unit 120.
Now, the operation of the present document processing communication
terminal apparatus having the above-described structure and shown
in FIGS. 17a and 17b will be described in detail below.
In the first place, the transmission mode of the present document
processing (forming) communication terminal apparatus include (1) a
teletex mode for transmission to a teletex terminal apparatus and
(2) a fascimile mode (also referred to as "mode F") for
transmission to a facsimile terminal apparatus. The teletex mode is
further divided into two modes, one of which is a teletex mode for
transmission to a terminal apparatus having a standard teletex
communication function based on the CCITT recommendations or the
like (referred to as "mode T") and the other of which is a private
mode for transmission to a communication terminal apparatus having
a private communication function as well as a standard teletex
communication function similar to the transmitting terminal
apparatus (referred to as "mode P"). In the present document
processing communication terminal apparatus, there is previously
registered a destination (address) list containing the name of a
destination communication terminal apparatus, the address (such as
a telephone number), and the type of the destination communication
terminal apparatus, i.e., which of the above-described transmission
modes (mode F/T/P) is possessed by the destination communication
terminal apparatus, thereby identifying the destination
communication terminal apparatus to be serving as a fascimile
terminal apparatus, a teletex terminal apparatus, or a private
teletex terminal apparatus.
Now, the document transmission processing operation implemented by
the present document processing communication terminal apparatus
will be described in detail also with reference to FIGS. 18a and
18b. When document transmission among a teletex communication menu
in a task selection step not shown has been selected, a menu for
setting the transmission condition for document transmission is
displayed on the screen, whereby the transmission condition setting
processing is carried out for transmission mode (ordinary
transmission, urgent transmission, broadcast transmission, etc.),
time of transmission, and contents of transmission (e.g., Japanese)
by key operation. Upon completion of this transmission condition
setting processing, the document name registered in the document
file is read out and a menu of document name list is displayed on
the screen, whereby a particular document name for transmission is
designated by key operation to implement a document designation
step. After this document designation step, it is checked whether
or not broadcast transmission is designated at a transmission
condition setting step.
If broadcast transmission is designated, the relay control list is
formed by the later-described relay control list forming processing
operation. Then, the designated destination is taken out and it is
determined whether or not transmission can be carried out to the
designated destination. If not possible, it is checked whether or
not there is a next destination. If there is, then it proceeds to a
step of taking out the next destination and waits until the thus
taken-out destination becomes available for communication. When
becoming available, it is determined whether or not the receiving
station is a relay station, and if the receiving station has been
found to be a relay station, then the transmission document and the
relay information containing the address of the final destination
are transmitted. On the other hand, if the receiving station is not
a relay station, then only the transmission document is
transmitted, and, thereafter, it is checked whether or not
transmission to all of the designated destinations has been
completed, and the present document transmission processing
operation is terminated upon completion of transmission to all of
the designated destinations.
Next, the relay control list forming processing operation will be
described with reference to FIGS. 19a and 19b. In the first place,
the contents of relay terminal information and the format of a
relay control list will be described. The relay terminal
information may include any information which can determine a cost
of communication, such as distance information to a relay
communication terminal apparatus, location information of a relay
communication terminal apparatus, or communication cost information
per unit time with a relay communication terminal apparatus. In the
present embodiment, the distance information between the source
station and a relay station is listed as relay terminal
information, for example, as shown in FIG. 20 and registered as a
file in the HDD 6. In the table shown in FIG. 20, "A" through "E"
indicate communication terminal apparatuses located at different
locations, such as A=Tokyo, B=Sendai, C=Niigata, and
D=Kanazawa.
Then, referring to this relay terminal information list with
respect to the destination stations designated for broadcast
communication and the source station, a relay control list of the
format shown in FIG. 21 is formed. In the leftmost column for "ID"
in this relay control list, a particular number is assigned for
each of the communication terminal apparatuses in question. For
example, "0" is assigned to the source station and the designated
destination stations are numbered "1", "2", etc. In the next column
of "ADDRESS", the address (telephone number) of the corresponding
communication terminal apparatus is stored. In the third column of
"SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" is stored the ID of the communication
terminal apparatus which serves as a source station to indicate
from which the document is transmitted. The fourth column is
"TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" in which the information indicating whether
or not the transmission of received document information is
possible ("1" is set only for a relay terminal). The fifth column
is "PROCESSING COMPLETED" which stores the information which
indicates whether or not the formation of a relay control list has
been completed ("1" is set only when completed). The final column
is "RELAY" which stores the information indicating whether or not
the receiving station is a relay station as viewed from the
transmitting station ("1" is set only when the receiving station is
a relay station as viewed from the transmitting station.).
Described this relay control list forming processing operation, in
the first place, the ID and address of each of the present and
designated stations are stored in "ID" and "ADDRESS" columns,
respectively. And, then, after setting "1" in the "TRANSMISSION
POSSIBLE" column of the present station, the nearest communication
terminal station which is located at the nearest distance from the
present station is retrieved based on the relay terminal
information list, which is followed by the steps of setting the ID
"0" of the present station in the column of "SOURCE OF
TRANSMISSION" of the thus retrieved receiving station and setting
"1" in each of the "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" and "PROCESSING
COMPLETED" colunns. Then, it checked whether or not there still
remains yet to be processed (i.e., "0" in the column of "PROCESSING
COMPLETED") by scanning the column of "PROCESSING COMPLETED" for
each of the IDs in the relay control list. If there still remains
the unprocessed, then the newest communication terminal apparatus
which is located at the shortest distance to the present station
among the unprocessed is retrieved, and, then, a communication
terminal apparatus which is nearest to the thus retrieved terminal
apparatus is selected among those terminal apparatuses having "1"
in their column of "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE", which is followed by
the steps of registering the ID of the thus selected terminal
apparatus in the column of "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" of the thus
retrieved terminal apparatus and of setting "1" in the column of
"PROCESSING COMPLETED".
Then, it is checked whether or not the terminal apparatus ID
registered in the column of "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" of the thus
retrieved terminal apparatus is "0", indicating the fact that the
source of transmission is the present station. And, if the terminal
apparatus ID has been found to be "0", then "1" is set in the
column of "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" of the thus retrieved terminal
apparatus and "1" is also set in the column of "RELAY" of the thus
selected terminal apparatus (excepting the present station).
The relay control list forming processing operation will be
described with reference to FIG. 22. For the purpose of
illustration, it is assumed here that, among the terminal
apparatuses A through E in the table of FIG. 20, the terminal
apparatus A is the present (or self) station and the remaining
terminals B through E are designated terminal apparatuses. Under
the condition, the address of the present terminal apparatus A is
stored in the column of "ADDRESS" corresponding to ID 0, and,
similarly, the addresses of the terminal apparatuses B through E
are stored in the column of "ADDRESS" corresponding to respective
ID 1 through 4. Although not shown, it is to be noted that "0s" are
set in the other columns of "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION", "TRANSMISSION
POSSIBLE", "PROCESSING COMPLETED", and "RELAY" as initial values.
Thereafter, "1" is set in the column of "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" of
the present station (i.e., terminal apparatus A), as shown in FIG.
22.
Under the condition, one of the designated stations which is
located closest to the present station (terminal apparatus A) is
retrieved. In the present example, from the relay terminal
information list shown in FIG. 20, it is found that the terminal
apparatus C (ID=2) is nearest to the present station, so that for
the terminal apparatus C (ID=2), "0" (indicating the present
station) is set in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" and "1" is set in
"PROCESSING COMPLETED". Thereafter, since the other terminal
apparatuses B, D and E have not yet been processed, it is
determined which of these three is located nearest to the present
station and thus found that the terminal apparatus D is nearest to
the present station among these three. Then, among those terminal
apparatuses having "1" in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE", a terminal
apparatus nearest to thus retrieved terminal apparatus D is
selected. In this case, since only the present station (terminal
apparatus A) and the terminal apparatus C have "1" in "TRANSMISSION
POSSIBLE", the present terminal apparatus A is selected as the
nearest terminal apparatus to the terminal apparatus D based on the
information contained in the relay terminal information list shown
in FIG. 20.
Accordingly, the ID "0" of the present terminal apparatus A is
registered in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" of the thus retrieved
terminal apparatus D, and "1" is set in its "PROCESSING COMPLETED".
Then, since ID=0 for the ID of the registered terminal apparatus,
"1" is set in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" of the thus retrieved
terminal apparatus D. Thereafter, it again returns to a step for
determining whether or not there still remains a terminal apparatus
which has not yet been processed. In the present case, since the
terminal apparatuses B and E have not yet been processed, it is
examined which of the two is closer in distance to the present
station. In the present example, based on the information contained
in the table of FIG. 20, the terminal apparatus E is found to be
closer. Then, it is examined which of the terminal apparatuses
having "1" in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE", i.e., terminal apparatuses
A, C and D, is located nearest to the terminal apparatus E. In the
present example, based on the information contained in the relay
terminal control information list shown in FIG. 20, the terminal
apparatus D is selected. Accordingly, the ID of the terminal
apparatus D (ID=3) is registered in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" of the
terminal apparatus E and "1" is set in "PROCESSING COMPLETED". In
addition, since the thus registered ID is that of the terminal
apparatus D (ID=3), "1" is set in "RELAY" of the terminal apparatus
D.
Now, the terminal apparatus B still remains to be processed. Since
it is the only one remaining to be processed, it is nearest to the
present terminal apparatus A. Then, it is examined which of those
terminal apparatuses having "1" in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE", i.e.,
terminal apparatuses A, C and D, is nearest to the terminal
apparatus B. In the present case, as a result of this examination,
the terminal apparatus C is selected. Accordingly, the ID of the
terminal apparatus C (ID=2) is set in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" of
the terminal apparatus B, and "1" is set in "PROCESSING COMPLETED".
In this case, since the registered ID is that of the terminal
apparatus C (ID=2), "1" is set in "RELAY" of the terminal apparatus
C.
In this manner, when all of the processings have been completed,
"1s" are set in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION", "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE",
and "RELAY" of the terminal apparatuses C and D with "2" set in
"SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION" and "0" set in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" of
the terminal apparatus B and "3" set in "SOURCE OF TRANSMISSION"
and "0" set in "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" of the terminal apparatus E,
as shown in the table of FIG. 22. It is to be noted that the reason
for providing the column of "TRANSMISSION POSSIBLE" in the present
example is to prohibit a double relay or a relay of a relay;
however, it is to be also noted that such a double relay may be
accepted in some applications, if desired.
Based on the thus formed relay control list shown in FIG. 22, it is
so controlled that, for a terminal apparatus serving as a relay
station for receiving information from the present terminal
apparatus serving as a transmitting station, not only transmission
document information, but also relay information including the
address information of a final destination terminal apparatus are
transmitted, for a terminal apparatus serving as a final
destination and not as a relay station for receiving information
from the present terminal apparatus serving as a transmitting
station, only transmission document information is transmitted, and
for a terminal apparatus to which the present terminal apparatus
does not become a transmitting station, no information is
transmitted.
Described more in detail with reference to the table shown in FIG.
22, for the terminal apparatus C, the present terminal apparatus A
transmits not only transmission document information, but also
relay information, such as the address information of the terminal
apparatus B. For the terminal apparatus D, transmission document
information as well as relay information, such as the address
information of the terminal apparatus E, are transmitted. In
addition, for the terminal apparatuses B and E, the present
terminal apparatus A does not transmit anything because they
receive information as relayed from the terminal apparatuses C and
D, respectively. In this case, the relay information is transmitted
as part of a document to be transmitted. The relay information may
include the information as to the type of the final destination
terminal apparatus (communication mode information) in addition to
the address information.
Next, the document reception processing operation will be described
with reference to FIG. 23. In the first place, after receiving the
document transmitted from a transmitting station and having it
temporarily stored in a reception memory constituting the
communication memory, it is examined whether or not the received
document contains relay information. In this case, if relay
information is contained, transmission information is formed by
extracting selected information, such as the address information of
the relayed or final destination terminal apparatus, from the relay
information. Then, after transferring the received document stored
in the reception memory to a transmission memory defining part of
the transmission memory, the received document information is
transmitted to the final destination terminal apparatus. Thereafter
and also in the case where no relay information is not contained,
the received document is stored into a document file.
Next, the processing of transmission and reception of a document by
the system control unit 9 and the communication control unit 11
will be described in detail below. It should be noted that, in the
present embodiment, relay designation information is also
transmitted so as to determine whether or not the receiving station
is a terminal apparatus having a relay function prior to the
transmission of a document. It is so structured that the relay
control is carried out after storing the received document into the
side of the system control unit 9.
In the first place, the transmission preparation processing
operation will be described in detail with particular reference to
FIG. 9 (SCU side) and FIG. 10 (CCU side). In this transmission
preparation processing operation, the system control unit (SCU) 9
supplies transmission information, such as the address (telephone
number) of a designated destination, the name of a document to be
transmitted, time of transmission, and transmission information
including the before-mentioned relay information if broadcast
transmission has been designated, to the communication control unit
(CCU) 11. On the other hand, in accordance with a predetermined
command from the SCU 9, the CCU 11 initiates the implementation of
the sequence shown in FIG. 10, thereby receiving the transmission
information supplied from the SCU 9 and have it stored in the
internal memory. If the CCU is not in a condition to receive
information from the SCU because, for example, of the CCU 11 being
currently in the middle of document transmission with another
communication terminal apparatus, the operation, such as
transmission and reception of the transmission information with the
SCU 9, is temporarily halted to be set in a stand-by status until
the current communication is completed.
Thereafter, the SCU 9 requests a transmission file No. to the CCU
11 which the supplies a predetermined transmission file No. in
response to this request. This transmission file No. is a file No.
for internal processing. Here, use is made of "TDOC-XXX" which
indicates the teletex mode. Upon receipt of the transmission file
No. from the CCU 11, the SCU 9 reads the apparatus type information
of the designated destination registered in the address list to
determine whether or not it is a facsimile mode (mode F). Under the
condition, if the transmission mode is mode F, then the SCU 9
changes the transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 from
"TDOC-XXX" indicating teletex mode to "FDOC-XXX" indicating
facsimile mode and supplies it to the CCU 11. Then, the
transmission document of the document name designated for
transmission is read out of the FDD 8, and, after adding the
changed file No. "FDOC-XXX" to the document, it is registered in
the transmission file defined by the HDD 7.
On the other hand, if the transmission mode is not mode F, then it
is checked whether or not it is a private mode (mode P). If the
transmission mode is mode P, then the SCU 9 changes the
transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 from "TDOC-XXX"
indicating the teletex mode to "PDOC-XXX" indicating the private
mode and supplies the changed file No. to the CCU 11. Then, the
transmission document of the document name designated for
transmission is read out of the FDD 8, and, after adding the
changed file No. of "PDOC-XXX" to the document, it is registered in
the transmission file defined by the HDD 7.
In this case, if the relay information has been added to the
transmission document, the relay information is added to a
predetermined page, e.g., page 1, of the transmission document of
the transmission document name, and, then, this transmission
document with added information is stored as a transmission
document in the transmission file.
On the other hand, if the transmission mode is not mode P and mode
T of teletex mode, then the transmission document of the designated
document name is read out of the FDD 8 and the file No. "TDOC-XXX"
of teletex mode received from the CCU 11 is added to the document
thus read out and registered in the transmission file. If the CCU
11 receives the transmission file No. from the SCU 9, it changes
the transmission file No. supplied to the SCU 9 to the transmission
file No. received from the SCU 9 and has it registered.
Next, the transmission processing operation to be carried out by
the system control unit 9 and the communication control unit 11
will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 11a-11b and
12a-12b.
The communication control unit (CCU) 11 sets the transmission
status ON, i.e., requesting transmission, when the time has come if
the transmission time has been designated, or immediately if no
specific transmission time has been designated. On the other hand,
the system control unit (SCU) 9 checks to see whether the
transmission status has become ON by polling the CCU 11 at a
predetermined time interval, and when the transmission status has
become ON, i.e., upon request for transmission, the SCU 9 requests
the CCU 11 the transmission file No. for transmission. On the other
hand, upon receipt of request of transmission file No., the CCU 11
supplies a tranmission file No. to the SCU 9 and waits for a
further command from the SCU 9. Under the condition, the SCU 9
determines the transmission file No. received from the CCU 11 to be
either one of "FDOC-XXX", "PDOC-XXX", and "TDOC-XXX", thereby
determining the transmission mode to be either one of mode F
(facsimile mode), mode P (private mode), and mode T (teletex
mode).
If the transmission file No. has been found to be a transmission
file No. of mode F, then a mode F transmission document command is
supplied to the CCU 11; in the case of a transmission file No. of
mode P, a mode P transmission document command is supplied to the
CCU 11; and in the case of a transmission file No. of mode T, a
mode T transmission document command is supplied to the CCU 11.
Thus, the CCU 11 determines the command received from the SCU 9 to
be a transmission document command of either one of mode F, mode P
or mode T, and depending on the result of this determination, the
CCU 11 carries out a network connecting processing operation with a
transmitting (receiving) terminal apparatus in accordance with the
facsimile communication procedure, private communication procedure
added to the teletex communication regulations, or teletex
communication procedure. Then, when communication is made possible,
for example, by establishing a connection with another terminal
apparatus through the network, the transmission document supply and
reception processing operation is carried out between the SCU 9 and
the CCU 11 so that the transmission document information is
supplied from the SCU 9 to the CCU 11 in accordance with the
selected transmission mode (mode F, P or T).
In the case of mode F, the SCU 9 changes the transmission document
information from the character code into image data, for example,
by using the bit map memory of the CRTCU 10, and, then, the image
data is further converted into compression code according to the
facsimile communication regulations. Thus converted compression
code is then supplied to the CCU 11. In the case of mode P, the SCU
9 supplies the transmission document information to the CCU 11
without change; whereas, in the case of mode T, the transmission
document information is converted into data in compliance with a
teletex terminal apparatus, and, then, the thus converted data is
supplied to the CCU 11. Thereafter, the CCU 11 transmits the
transmission document information received from the SCU 9 to a
destination terminal apparatus in accordance with the transmission
mode (mode F, P or T).
Upon completion of supply of the transmission document to the CCU
11 or in the case of the condition of transmission impossible, the
SCU 9 immediately carries out a transmission termination processing
operation, and, then, the CCU 11 carries out the transmission
termination processing operation upon completion of transmission of
the transmission document to the destination terminal apparatus or
in the case of being incapable to establish a connection through
network, thereby completing a series of processing operations.
Now, the transmission of relay information will be described in
detail below.
As well known in the art, the communication protocol in teletex has
a seven-layered structure, including a physical layer (layer 1) for
physical conditions, such as MODEM and pin arrangement, a link
layer (layer 2) for a communication control procedure, a network
layer (layer 3) for a routine control within network, a transport
layer (layer 4) for absorbing the differences in network, a session
control layer (layer 5) and a document control layer (layer 5) as a
session layer for transmission and reception control of data or the
like, a presentation layer (layer 6) for encoding of data,
formatting, or the like. In the present communication terminal
apparatus, the communication control unit 11 takes care of layers 1
through 5 and a part of layer 6, and the system control unit 9
takes care of the rest of layer 6. And, various commands and
responses necessary to implement the session and document controls
are defined in the session control and document control layers
within the session layer.
In the present embodiment, relay designation information is added
in session start (CSS) and session start confirmation (RSSP) which
is a command and response used in the session control layer, to
which a privately used parameter can be added. Alternatively, use
may also be made of a command and response, such as document
function list (CDCL) and document function list confirmation
(RDCLP) which is used in the document control layer and which
allows to use a privately used parameter. In addition, as described
before, such relay information as the final destination address
information and the transmission mode information (i.e., apparatus
type information) is transmitted as a part of the document. In this
case, the relay information is always stored on a predetermined
page (here, page 1) of the document. Thus, in the transmission
document supply and reception processing operation in mode P in
FIGS. 11a-11b and 12a-12b, the relay information is supplied from
the system control unit 9 to the communication control unit 11 as a
transmission document and it is transmitted to the destination
communication terminal apparatus.
It is to be noted that the processing operation of the present
communication terminal apparatus of this aspect of the present
invention at the time of reception is the same as described in
detail below with reference to FIG. 13 (CCU side), FIG. 14 (SCU
side) and FIG. 15, so that the reference should be made to the
previous description in this respect and the repetition of
description is avoided.
As described above, when the same document is to be transmitted
from the terminal apparatus A to the four terminal apparatuses B
through E, if the document is transmitted from the source terminal
apparatus A individually to the respective terminal apparatuses B
through E, the total transmission length required is 1,036 km;
whereas, if the document is transmitted using the terminal
apparatuses C and D as relay stations, then the total transmission
length required is 780 km which is significantly shorter than the
former case. In Japan, the relation between the distance and the
time period for communication allotted for unit fare (10 in Japan)
is as shown in FIG. 26 and the relation between the distance and
the communication fare per unit time (1 minute) is as shown in FIG.
27, so that the shorter the distance between the transmitting and
receiving stations, the lower the communication fare and also the
shorter the network use time. Moreover, using a communication
terminal apparatus having various communication modes as a relay
station, a communication between the source and destination
terminal apparatuses which are of different type can be carried
out.
As described above, in the present document processing
communication terminal apparatus, it is so structured that, when
broadcast communication is designated, relay information is
transmitted to a relay station based on the relay terminal
information. Thus, the communication efficiency can be remarkably
enhanced by using the present communication terminal apparatus.
Moreover, since an optimum communication terminal apparatus is
automatically selected as a relay station when broadcast
communication is designated, the operability is also significantly
enhanced. As set forth before, by providing a data conversion
function for converting the format of received document information
in accordance with the type of the terminal apparatus serving as a
destination station, the document can be transmitted from the
source station to the destination station using the presence
terminal apparatus as a relay station. In the above-described
embodiment, it is so structured that relay stations are selected
from those terminal apparatuses for which broadcast communication
has been designated. It is to be noted, however, that the present
invention should not be limited only to this and it may also be so
structured that one or more of relay stations are selected from all
of the terminal apparatuses having a relay function. It should also
be noted that the application of the present communication terminal
apparatus is not limited only to an apparatus having all of the
above-described teletex, private and facsimile modes. The present
communication terminal apparatus may also be applied to various
other terminal apparatuses, including facsimile apparatuses,
teletex apparatuses, communication word processors and personal
computers.
While the above provides a full and complete disclosure of the
preferred embodiments of the present invention, various
modifications, alternate constructions and equivalents may be
employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the
invention. Therefore, the above description and illustration should
not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, which is
defined by the appended claims.
* * * * *